In Tune to Nature Podcast

In this mass extinction era, can we save the Endangered Species Act? We discuss how engaged citizens can speak out against the trump regime's recent proposal to weaken the notion of what “harm” legally means (so the Endangered Species Act would essentially no longer protect animals' habitats from exploitation, even though habitat destruction is the largest threat to species). Here's a link to a public comment opportunity for engaged citizens to post their thoughts to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services (by May 19 ,2025). But the fight will be ongoing and end up in court, so continue to keep tabs on what we can all do for wild animal protection. In this 44-minute podcast, In Tune to Nature Host Carrie Freeman interviews Tara Zuardo, a legal expert, and Senior Advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/#  Tara discusses: the successes of the 50+ year Endangered Species Act (ESA) (it has faced attacks before, but courts have held firm), how contentious some have made the ESA historically (such as with the spotted owl), how flexible the ESA actually is in balancing human and nonhuman animal interests, larger issues of needing to legally protect all (even non-endangered) wild/free-living animals in North America, such as on wildlife refuges and from trapping (yes that's still a thing), and how to work at the state and local level on wildlife-friendly policies (while acknowledging our exhaustion that we have to waste time and resources for four years, trying to protect what we have, rather than moving forward at the federal level). "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly radio show airing Wednesdays at 6pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station) hosted by me, Carrie Freeman, or Melody Paris. The show's website and action items can be found at https://wrfg.org/in-tune-to-nature/  Please support nonprofit indie media like our Radio Free Georgia station at https://wrfg.org/  Thank you! Take care of yourself and others, including other species, like those who rely on us and enforcement of laws like the Endangered Species Act. Endangered FL Manatee Photo Credit: Keith Ramos USFWS, from the Center for Biological Diversity action item on website. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on In Tune to Nature do not necessarily reflect those of WRFG, its board, staff or volunteers.     

In honor of National Park Week and Earthday 2025, we are supporting OUR national parks by sharing stories about what we love about the parks that we all collectively own (the most beautiful and ecologically significant wild places/habitats in the nation...and in the world, as some earned UNESCO World Heritage Site designations), to help encourage Americans to ask for political support to stop trump and musk/DOGE from defunding OUR parks and to stop firing our hard-working park rangers and staff who are our park defenders. In this 28 minute episode I talk about an Atlanta group of women I'm working with on National Park support projects via an Intown Women's Resistance group. They helped send in stories from people around the nation of people talking about parks they love and why (like Cumberland Island NP in GA, and Arches NP in Utah, and me talking about seeing bison and interviewing wolf biologist Rick McIntyre in Yellowstone's Lamar Valley). We encourage you all to share your own park memories with friends and on social media, and to contact your federal Senators and Representatives to demand they protect park employee jobs and fully fund the national parks, and any park programs associated with climate mitigation and DEI, and protect all OUR public lands (some of which are now threatened with being sold to private owners/industries, snuck into a recent Republican budget bill). We must stay vigilant. Here are some organizations that support parks and their employees and can keep us educated on issues and action items, recommended by friend and retired Forester from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Kristine Johnson:  PEER: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility The Coalition to Protect America's National Parks The National Park Conservation Association "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly radio show airing Wednesdays at 6pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station) hosted by me, Carrie Freeman, or Melody Paris. The show's website and action items can be found at https://wrfg.org/in-tune-to-nature/  Please support nonprofit indie media like our Radio Free Georgia station at https://wrfg.org/  Thank you! Take care of yourself and others, including our park employees and the wild animals who rely on our public lands. Photo Credit: Resist Destruction Smoky Bear sticker from the Alt National Parks group. Check them out on FB. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on In Tune to Nature do not necessarily reflect those of WRFG, its board, staff or volunteers.   

We reframe the “egg crisis” (high prices and low supply of commercial hen's eggs in a bird flu outbreak) as a crisis of mass farming of animals, proposing sustainable alternative food solutions that can replace eggs and reduce the spread of zoonotic diseases, pollution, and the killing and harm of millions of wild and domesticated animals. Jennifer and Carrie discuss this in the context of the bird flu outbreak, as avian influenza is spreading and mutating in a variety of animal species (including cows used for dairy and human farm workers) – this infectious pathogen is an increasingly alarming issue for wild animals, farmed animals, and human health. The existence of factory farms keeps viruses circulating, making everyone less safe. We discuss how institutions can help us shift toward safer more humane, plant-based food systems. We end by discussing alternatives to eggs in your baking and cooking. Dr. Jennifer Molidor, Sr. Food Campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity is host Carrie Freeman's guest on this 42-minute podcast, recorded in late March 2025. Jennifer mentioned these resources: Take Extinction Off Your Plate https://takeextinctionoffyourplate.com/  Wildlife-Friendly School Food Programs https://takeextinctionoffyourplate.com/school-food-1  One of Carrie's go-to sites for animal-free recipes, especially baking, is Loving it Vegan https://lovingitvegan.com/  If you want to see where America's animal products come from (and who they come from), check out this factory farming website from Farm Sanctuary (an animal rescue organization) that helps us look these individuals in the eyes with compassion and justice: https://www.farmsanctuary.org/issue/factory-farming/ "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly radio show airing Wednesdays at 6pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station) hosted by me, Carrie Freeman, or Melody Paris. The show's website and action items can be found at https://wrfg.org/in-tune-to-nature/  Please support nonprofit indie media like our Radio Free Georgia station at https://wrfg.org/  Thank you! Take care of yourself and others, including birds and all other species. Photo Credit: Compassion Over Killing (now called Animal Outlook) photo of egg laying hens crowded in standard industry cages.  Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on In Tune to Nature do not necessarily reflect those of WRFG, its board, staff or volunteers.   

Our National Park Service staff are under seige, as so many federal employees are, from trump and Elon Musk's unfair attacks on our federal government agencies with haphazard and frankly cruel mass firings of public servants (not truly based on inefficiency or poor performance) along with spending and hiring freezes that are traumatizing and debilitating park employees and surrounding communities, creating a culture of fear and demoralization (the rhetoric not only lacks appreciation but is insulting). What little we gain in $ savings are outweighed by the massive long-term costs for everyone. I turned to a career public servant with over 40 years in the National Park Service -- retired Supervisory Forester Kristine Johnson from Great Smoky Mountains National Park, still living and volunteering in Gatlinburg, TN-- to have her on the "In Tune to Nature" show to help us understand what is going on and how these firings and spending freezes are really affecting park employees and morale on the ground (kids and the broader Gatlinburg community included). In our 47-minute conversation, Kristine also shares the potential long-term harmful impacts on wild animal residents and park habitats, concerns about the government privatizing park jobs and prioritizing recreation over wildlife and scientific research, public and wild animal safety issues, and what we as citizens can do now to help support our parks in this crisis. Prior to the trump regime, our national parks were already overloaded with tourists who love them, while being chronically understaffed and underfunded. The parks can't afford to lose any more dedicated staff, so American citizens need to step up to defend them if we truly care. Do we have the power to get these hardworking and talented folks re-hired if we tell our U.S. Senators and Representative that's what we demand?! Let's find out. Organizations who are speaking out and can serve as resources for us are: PEER: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility The Coalition to Protect America's National Parks The National Park Conservation Association Indivisible.org "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly radio show airing Wednesdays at 6pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station) hosted by me, Carrie Freeman, or Melody Paris. The show's website and action items can be found at https://wrfg.org/in-tune-to-nature/  Please support nonprofit indie media like our Radio Free Georgia station at https://wrfg.org/  Thank you! Take care of yourself and others, including the imperiled public servants in our federal agencies. Photo Credit: Supervisory Forester Kristine Johnson, by Joye Ardyn Durham, upon her retirement from GSMNP in 2021. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on In Tune to Nature do not necessarily reflect those of WRFG, its board, staff or volunteers. 

A 2025 article published in the journal “Oxford Open Climate Change” titled “Solving climate change requires changing our food systems” outlines the need for human societies globally to transition to plant-based food systems and phasing out factory farming, and pathways to make that vision a reality to reach climate mitigation goals and spare the worst warming and deforestation impacts. (the article is open-access and available to share, with a wealth of sources in the bibliography https://academic.oup.com/oocc/article/5/1/kgae024/7942019?l ) "In Tune to Nature" host Carrie Freeman is one of 20 co-authors on that article, talking in this 29-minute podcast with the article's lead author, Dr. Svetlana Feigin, Executive Director of the All Life Institute, recorded in February 2025. Dr. Feigin shares compelling statistics about how the current and growing global demand for inefficient, factory-farmed animal-sourced meat and dairy is wasting land and resources and contributing heavily to greenhouse gas emissions, and how plant-based food sources are a logical climate solution for ecological, ethical, and public health reasons. Example "Although 83% of the world's farmland is occupied by animal agriculture, this provides just 18% of the calories and 37% of the protein humans consume, and the majority of cereals and soy produced today are fed to farm animals [climate change journal article on social media and with community leaders.  "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly radio show airing Wednesdays at 6:30pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station). Hosted by me, Carrie Freeman, or Melody Paris. The show's website and action items can be found at https://wrfg.org/in-tune-to-nature/  Please support nonprofit indie media like our Radio Free Georgia station at https://wrfg.org/  Thank you! Take care of yourself and others, including other animals who are struggling to survive on this planet of over 8 billion hungry humans. Factory Farming Photo Credit: Female cows stuck in dairy milking stalls. From Jo-Anne McArthur of We Animals Media (a great resource for animal photojournalism)  

We discuss the concept of animal dignity – two words that don't often get put together; we typically only hear of human dignity, as if it means we are dignified precisely because we aren't animals, yet we humans are part of the animal kingdom and not the only animal species who possesses a dignity that should be respected. In this special 55-minute podcast, host Carrie Freeman explores this novel ethical and legal concept with our guest, award-winning British author, philosopher, and animal advocate Melanie Challenger who has a new edited book out on Animal Dignity and just worked on a project creating a Declaration of Animal Dignity, signed by hundreds of experts at animaldignity.info/ There is also a pledge there that supportive individuals and organizations can sign. The discussion covers why dignity is foundational (as distinct from rights, sentience, consciousness); what dignity means for humans and how it could be applicable to nonhuman animal species, and in a way that does not cause dehumanization, especially when focused on supporting the flourishing, appreciation, and freedom of each animal species (and indeed each individual) based on what makes them unique and capable beings (think of dolphins, ravens, pigs, mice, lions, bees, etc.). This includes ways to avoid degrading the dignity of vulnerable beings, like many animal individuals under human control or care. Several examples feature Carrie's dog Elliott (a particularly dignified canine).   "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly radio show airing Wednesdays at 6:30pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station). Hosted by me, Carrie Freeman, or Melody Paris. The show's website and action items can be found at https://wrfg.org/in-tune-to-nature/  Please support nonprofit indie media like our Radio Free Georgia station at https://wrfg.org/  Thank you! Take care of yourself and others, including other animals, recognizing the dignity in each of us. Photo Credit: The cover of Melanie Challenger's edited book "Animal Dignity: Philosophical Reflections on Non-Human Existence" (2023, Bloomsbury).

Carrie and Melody discuss how to incorporate animal and eco protection into your life in meaningful ways to meet your own life goals, priorities, and interests in big and small ways, syncing up with actions and virtues the world needs from us humans.  Since the beginning of each new year is a time to reassess our own goals and priorities, it seemed a good time to have an In Tune to Nature show that focused on our own personal growth resolutions and how that can synergize with efforts to help other species. This is also a special show because it airs on the radio on our birthday, January 8th, as my co-host and friend Melody Paris and I share the same birthday – just one of the many things we have in common. The agenda for the 1 hour show today is that before we get to some personal growth exercises and self reflections that you our listeners can use to figure out your own best path (inspired by best selling personal growth authors), I thought Melody and I would start by sharing our own path toward incorporating animal and eco issues into our daily lives (over the decades) to see how our own stories and actions might resonate with listeners or spark ideas for you. So it would be good for you to have a way to take notes during this show, and you can pause at times to answer some questions and do some self reflection (on your inner priorities, and what excites you, what you're good at, and what the world needs to protect animals and nature) before we move on to each new topic. My sign-off each show has been “Take care of yourself and others, including other species,” and I literally think that is the meaning of life. And in this anthropocentric (human-centered) culture, I want to make sure we don't leave other species out of that care-taking effort -- with the goal of us shifting our identities and culture toward a biocentric (life-centered) orientation and beginning to see ourselves as part of a broader community as human animal earthlings. So our resolutions/goals can be in improving our mindset and identity as well as in formulating tangible task-oriented goals/achievements. Toward the end of the podcast, Melody and I review the top 20 virtues that humans could embody, from pg 207 in my "Human Animal Earthling Identity" book, so virtue ethics plays a role in this show. The show draws upon books like "Essentialism" by G. McKeown, "Emotional Chaos to Clarity" by P. Moffit, and "Die with Zero" by B. Perkins, and "Oasis Earth" by R. Steiner.   "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly radio show airing Wednesdays at 6:30pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station). Hosted by me, Carrie Freeman, or Melody Paris. The show's website and action items can be found at https://wrfg.org/in-tune-to-nature/  Please support nonprofit indie media like our Radio Free Georgia station at https://wrfg.org/  Thank you! Take care of yourself and others, including other species. That's the meaning of life! Photo Credit: Carrie Freeman. I took this photo of my hand petting a rescued goat at a sanctuary in Georgia, as part of a Georgia Animal Rights and Protection hands-on volunteer day that Melody helped organize.

This Christmas, I thought it would be fun to analyze 6 popular Christmas songs referencing animals-other-than-humans (mostly mammals who are forced to pull people around the snow in sleds, and then some birds, mainly birds that humans kill and eat but sometimes birds humans admire for their beauty). The songs are  Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Run Run Rudolph, Sleigh Ride, Jingle Bells, The 12 Days of Christmas, and Nat King Cole's The Christmas Song. I'm going to deconstruct these Christmas songs from a Critical Animal Studies perspective. In other words, as an animal rights activist who is sympathetic to the more-than-human-world and the perspectives and interests of other animal individuals and our shared habitats, I analyze these classic songs and what lessons they teach us about fellow animal species and how we could be more respectful, kind of like those Politically Correct Bedtime Story series that gives you a critical yet humorous perspective on classic tales in Western society. My Radio Free Georgia version of this episode has the license to broadcast these popular songs, but for my podcast friends, I don't have copyright permission to play the songs, so I linked to the youtube versions of the songs in the podcast notes here below. For the recording, I'll put a jingle bell sound in there when you can cue up the songs to play yourself if you want to. But I'll speak the key lyrics dealing with animals that I discuss. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMletImQ_cs Run Run Rudolph: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqVtqbzTdVs  Sleigh Ride: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZTzai1H9DM Jingle Bells: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP3RhTbq3Ds  The Twelve Days of Christmas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QPQI5QUs74  The Christmas Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKhRnZZ0cJI    "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly radio show airing Wednesdays at 6:30pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station). Hosted by me, Carrie Freeman, or Melody Paris. The show's website and action items can be found at https://www.facebook.com/InTunetoNature You can email me at my first name at wrfg.org.  Please support nonprofit indie media like our Radio Free Georgia station at https://wrfg.org/  Thank you! Take care of yourself and others, including other species, like reindeer, partridges, French hens, turtle doves, bobtailed horses, etc. Photo Credit: by Aleksei Zaitcev on Unsplash Horse Neighing audio credit: From Duke the Palomino who has his own YouTube channel

To have a greener holiday season (and beyond) and avoid buying a bunch of cluttering stuff your friends and family don't need (and probably don't want), this annual holiday show focuses not on eco-friendly products/items but more on eco-friendly experiences and services in order to avoid cluttering up our lives (and planet) with more items that land in our homes permanently and ultimately weigh us and our descendants down (or just end up in a landfill down the line). So my emphasis here is on sharing gift-giving ideas for vegan-friendly foods/restaurants or experiences (airbnbs/cabins, park passes, professional photography sessions and massages, etc. excluding animal entertainment venues) or lending a helping hand (dog-sitting, babysitting/tutoring, lawncare and home vegetable gardening, home organization), or media subscriptions (to streaming services like Ecoflix, PBS Passport, the Guardian, Vox, NYT, AJC, Sentient Media, Inside Climate News, Insight Timer app), or savings/investing ideas, and giving your holiday money to communities and small businesses in distress. Basically, don't head to the mall or Amazon.com and get sucked into traditional consumerism. Plan ahead and be thoughtful and you'll probably save money in the process. I forgot to mention this gift idea on the show; you can also sponsor/"adopt" rescued animals or endangered species from nonprofit sanctuaries and wildlife organizations to give funds to those advocacy groups and educate kids about what we owe to these beautiful animal kin -- for example, Farm Sanctuary's Adopt a Turkey program https://www.farmsanctuary.org/adopt-a-turkey  The radio show is focused more on gifting for the adults in our lives, as I know that kids often do need books, toys, and clothes as they grow (and you can buy used, eco-friendly, and vegan products there). "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly radio show airing Wednesdays at 6:30pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station). Hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. The show's website and action items can be found at https://www.facebook.com/InTunetoNature  Please support indie media like Radio Free Georgia at https://wrfg.org/   Take care of yourself and others, including other species.

I decided animals needed an election postmortem after being erased from the political and media agenda by self-centered anthropocentrism; so I wanted to use this media platform with my friend from Oregon, Dr. Debra Merskin, to collectively grieve, vent, and discuss how we really feel this week as animal rights activists, vegans, environmentalists, social justice advocates, human animal earthlings, and feminists who were excited to have America's first women president after 200+ years! While the show is hopeful and uplifting in parts, that was not actually my aim. I just wanted to get real in explaining my despair and my fears and to share in some communal grieving and exhaustion that I know so many of you are feeling. In this 33- minute spirited discussion (it really gets going in the middle), we talk about how wild animals and domesticated animals (and all of us in a climate crisis) are likely to be negatively impacted (progress backtracked and undone) by this federal trump administration and all his (potentially unscientific and inappropriate) appointees, empowered by a conservative judiciary and legislative branch. We try to re-affirm biocentric values and discuss how we can put other animals on the political and media agenda so they are not continually ignored and forgotten, especially as we humans are largely the source of their harm, extinction, and exploitation and thus are responsible for rehabilitation; reminding us that we are all interdependent beings in a shared vulnerable biosphere (the ultimate reality apart from the post-truth mediated realities). We end with a “what to do now” variety of options on how to continue to be an activist for all marginalized communities of beings, if you even have the strength to be an activist at all anymore – local and community activism vs national or global solidarities -- collective resistance and non-compliance with authoritarian tactics and harmful policies. But maybe just for now, allow yourself to be sad and rest (and eat good vegan food). In Tune to Nature is a weekly radio show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50-plus-year old independent, progressive, non-commercial Atlanta radio station at www.wrfg.org  PHOTO CREDIT: Photo by John Hyde. Female brown bear in Katmai National Park, Alaska.  Republican administrations tend to be harsher/deadlier toward omnivorous/ "predator" species like bears, even though these species are imperiled and we have decimated their populations and habitats. Vote to take care of yourself and others, including other species -- who need us to be their voice!

This election season is the ultimate time to consider that this decade is our last best chance to transition to a liveable planet instead of continuing to further recklessly degrade the sustainability of our own species' future, and that of fellow earthlings, and our one Oasis Earth. Marine conservationist, former U of Alaska professor, and clean energy and wildlife consultant, Dr. Rick Steiner speaks with In Tune to Nature radio host Carrie Freeman about his book Oasis Earth: Planet in Peril – Our Last Best Chance to Save Our World. Anyone can download, read, and share this open-access/free digital book at the website  https://www.oasis-earth.com/oasis-earth-planet-in-peril (or you can buy a hardcopy of this beautiful, full-color book, full of images from the UN Environmental Program's photographic contest winners and NASA images of Earth from space). In this special 52-minute radio show, we set the stage for outlining environmental solutions by first reviewing the four fundamental causes of ecological crisis and why this decade 2020-2030 is so crucial to everyone's future viability (why we can't keep going business as usual). Then we go through some of the main environmental problems we face, especially human population growth, unsustainable animal agriculture and fishing, and the climate and wildlife extinction crises. In the latter half of the show, we focus on Rick's many solutions and goals in Oasis Earth, including redefining progress to account for what we really care about (going from GDP to wellbeing), instituting more citizen advisory councils around all communities for bottom up democratic leadership, and funding/investing in ecological initiatives like wildlife conservation and a living planet emergency fund and no longer subsidizing destructive practices like fossil fuel energy and unsustainable ag. We focus a lot on needed government policies and legal means to ensuring our political leaders and us as citizens start to foster a liveable planet rather than a dying planet, and creating that political will to prioritize this transition to an ecocentric way of living and not a short-sighted/misguided anthropocentric way of living (living as only human lives matter is ultimately going to kill us, along with so many other species). Dr. Rick Steiner helps us understand his concept of “constructive engagement” toward a variety of Oasis Earth goals he outlines for Agenda 2030. But in this decade, will we vote in the kind of political leaders who are brave and visionary enough to institute these needed, life-saving transitions to a liveable planet?  Can we make that our priority? Please share this podcast to see if we can make it a movement!   In Tune to Nature is a weekly radio show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50-plus-year old independent, progressive, non-commercial Atlanta radio station at www.wrfg.org  Photo Credit: The cover of the Oasis Earth book published by Cirque Press, Anchorage, Alaska Vote not only to take care of yourself, but to take care of others, including other species who need us to be their voice!

We voters really do care about eco issues (it's aligned with our health and economy and love for other animals...and future generations), so I wanted to get us prepared, motivated, and confident for early voting in Georgia Oct 15 - Nov 1st, with resources and tips shared by Brionte McCorkle, Executive Director of the nonpartisan Georgia Conservation Voters (GCV) at  https://www.gcvoters.org/vote/ That GCV voter resource website includes a link to this nonpartisan tool  https://gcv.branch.vote/summary  where you can see your ballot ahead of time and check out the candidates' views on various issues and an explanation of referendums, so you can make your voting decisions before heading to the polls. Brionte suggested printing this out and bringing it with you to early vote. It's the latter half of the podcast that focuses on these tips on how, where, and when to vote in GA, finding your many early voting locations -- like libraries-- (most open 7am - 7pm) across your county Oct 15-Nov 1st (whereas if you wait until Nov 5th election day, you have to go to your one set polling location and will likely have a longer wait).  You can check out all of your voting options at the GA My Voter Page https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/   so you can making a voting plan! This election is really high stakes, so plan to go early vote with a friend and offer neighbors rides to the polls or get a ride at rideshare2vote.com (or you can also volunteer to be a driver). It can be good to have the voter protection hotline number in your phone contacts in case you run into any issues or shenanigans at the polls: 866-OUR-VOTE.  In the first half of this 47-minute In Tune to Nature podcast (hosted by Carrie Freeman), Brionte tells us how we care about eco issues in Georgia, and highlights the GCV "environmental scorecard" for legislators' voting records and why some elected officials rank higher or lower in environmental and voter protection policymaking. We did discuss my observation that most republicans ended up ranking lower and how we hope that will change in the future to make eco issues nonpartisan again, as we need that desperately in this era of climate and species extinction crises. In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50plus-year old independent, progressive, noncommercial Atlanta radio station at www.wrfg.org  Photo Credit: Edmond Dantes (got from GCV). Vote not only to take care of yourself, but to take care of others, including other species who need us to be their voice!  

Elections are about more than just the current economy. We citizens must consider longterm effects of policies on our climate stability, wild animal livelihoods, community wellbeing, ecosystem health, and sustainable economic opportunities for future generations. But "Project 2025," the Heritage Foundation's extreme right-wing policy plan for a trump presidency forecasts a grim future of handing over more power to industries for oil and gas exploitation in ocean habitats, increasing not decreasing the deadly climate crisis, with less government scientific oversight and fewer protections and preservations of aquatic communities, more noise and toxic disruptions and killing/fishing of animals who live in the sea, and less respect for local coastal and indigenous communities. Based on his article "Project 2025's Plan To ‘Drill, Baby, Drill' Threatens Ocean Health and Economic Stability," Angelo Villagomez, Senior Fellow on the Conservation Team at the Center for American Progress (a progressive policy institute) talks with host Carrie Freeman in this 32-minute radio show about the dangers of Project 2025 and what would be a healthier and fairer path forward for ocean life and coastal communities. It's up to the American voters.  Angelo reminds us at the end (right before he closes the show with his not so "mediocre" ukulele solo) that voting Nov 5th is the least we should do, and we should also get civicly engaged in participating in our government as part of our life, such as sharing public input via checking the federal register frequently https://www.federalregister.gov/  Your vote matters! In preparation for everyone early voting, find out and share more about what a potential trump presidency under a Project 2025 plan would actually mean for America (and our precious planetary habitats) in terms of a power grab by the president and industries over the wellbeing of people and wildlife, weakening scientific governance and protections; see these series of reports https://www.americanprogress.org/series/project-2025-exposing-the-far-right-assault-on-america/  And to prep for voting, investigate what other Presidential candidates' (and state and local officials) plans are to protect our habitats and health,  and which candidates the League of Conservation Voters endorses as being environmentally responsible and why https://www.lcv.org/  In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50plus-year old independent, progressive, noncommercial Atlanta radio station at www.wrfg.org  Vote not only to take care of yourself, but to take care of others, including other species who need us to be their voice!    

The Marine Protection Atlas maps the global conservation of ocean areas that are supposed to legally protect aquatic animals and plant life from industrial activities like commercial fishing, mining, and drilling, but they have varying levels of protection and effectiveness so far. In this 33-minute podcast, we discuss the status of legally protected marine ocean areas worldwide, some of which are called “blue parks,” based on a report titled “Ocean protection quality is lagging behind quantity: Applying a scientific framework to assess real marine protected area progress against the 30 by 30 target” this was published in the Conservation Letters journal in 2024. Host Carrie Freeman interviews our guest -- the lead author of that report -- Beth Pike, who is also a ship captain, whale researcher, and the current Director of Marine Protection Atlas at the Marine Conservation Institute. You can explore the maps at https://mpatlas.org/  This is in context of the monumental agreement from 188 countries at the COP15 UN Biodiversity Conference in 2022 to protect 30 percent of our planet's land and waters by the year 2030 (Hence "30 by 30"). Beth's co-authored report tells us how we are lagging behind on that 30 x 30 goal and what we need to do to meet it, including ensuring that nations hold themselves accountable for not just making a marine area a park on paper but actually taking the extra steps to fund and enforce protections to avoid oil drilling, mining, and commercial fishing/poaching in those areas --high protections well managed so they actually allow marine plants and animals to regenerate and flourish and stem the tide of mass extinction we humans have caused.  Parks require policy, and they need political will to be funded and protected, so at the end we discuss the importance of voting for political leaders who care to do the right thing for biodiversity and our planetary health, and do so in an equitable/fair way that works with frontline and indigenous communities to use their knowledge in the process of developing policies that work for humans and nonhumans alike. In the context of US Politics, see articles like https://www.americanprogress.org/article/project-2025-would-be-a-disaster-for-national-marine-sanctuaries/  You can see a summary of Beth's report in this Inside Climate News article that alerted me to this issue. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/17062024/largest-marine-protected-areas-have-inadequate-protections/  In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50plus-year old independent, progressive, noncommercial Atlanta radio station at www.wrfg.org  Take care of yourself and others, including other species, like those who live in our oceans. Photo Credit: Stellar sea lions looking at us and depending on our marine protection efforts, by Jett Britnell/Coral Reef Image Bank.

Water is essential to life, yet factory animal farms have polluted freshwater and river and wetland ecosystems and rural neighborhoods for decades. But we can work to protect water, wildlife, animals, and community health. To tell us how, is our guest Larry Baldwin. He's with the nonprofit group Waterkeeper Alliance   https://waterkeeper.org/ and serves as their Campaign Coordinator for the “Pure Farms, Pure Waters” program in North Carolina. He works with the 15 licensed Waterkeeper Alliance groups in North Carolina in their efforts to reform the current polluting practices of the industrial meat producing facilities, known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs. In this 36-minute interview, "In Tune to Nature" radio host Carrie Freeman asks Larry Baldwin about what these mass hog facilities and mass chicken warehouses look and smell like (horrible for the animals), how the growers/farmers are in debt while agribusiness corporate executives profit, what water and air pollution these animal factories produce, like the open manure pits surrounding pig factory farms -- feces that puts bacteria and sewage into creeks and also gets sprayed into the air, creating environmental injustices in the largely Black rural communities where these factory farms are ruining quality of life. Larry was featured in a documentary on fighting this injustice, called The Smell of Money, streaming now.  Larry discusses programs and policies that can protect communities and water ecosystems from CAFO pollution, and helps us know how we can help move past factory animal farming.  In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50plus-year old independent, progressive, noncommercial Atlanta radio station at www.wrfg.org  Take care of yourself and others, including other species, like those who rely on healthy river ecosystems. Photo Credit: Waterkeeper Alliance photo of hog CAFOs in NC next to open manure pits (those aren't lakes, people). We purposely can't see the pigs suffering behind closed doors.

I love hearing about "wildlife equity" for the wild animals who are often an integral focus of tourists. As ecotourists, we long to see amazing wild animals, but how can we ensure we aren't endangering or harming them and putting ourselves or tourism profit before the lives and wellbeing of local humans and other animals in these tourism hotspots? To tell us about her (and co-authors') concept of wildlife equity and multispecies tourism justice is our guest Dr. Carol Kline, Appalachian State University Professor and Hospitality & Tourism Management Program Director, in the Department of Management. She recently edited two books about the ethics of eating animals within the context of tourism: called “Animals, Food & Tourism” and “Tourism Experiences & Animal Consumption: Contested Values, Morality, & Ethics.” An intersectional scholar, she is part of a network of researchers who focus on Race, Ethnicity, & Social Equity in Tourism. In this 30-minute podcast with host Carrie Freeman, Dr. Kline tells us about the burgeoning scholarship and advocacy on wildlife equity in tourism, and how to reduce risks to wildlife, respect animals' will/agency/privacy, what would be responsible marketing and transparency from wildlife tourism operators, and issues related to responsible food consumption while on vacation, including maintaining your own value system when traveling while still trying to enjoy local culture (authentically). Plus we address what we can do to be responsible ecotourists when nonhuman animals are part of our trip plans, since so many of us love and appreciate the more-than-human world. In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50plus-year old independent, progressive, noncommercial Atlanta radio station at www.wrfg.org  Take care of yourself and others, including other species, like the wild animals we share the planet with. Image Credit: Carrie Freeman took this image of a humpback near Juneau, Alaska on a whale watching tour in 2024. The small boat near the whale was not moving and the whale chose to get close to it, but boats are required to back off to a certain distance when near whales. I was on a whale watch tourboat that is a member of the Whale Sense program that I mention in this podcast and I zoomed in to get this image as the whales were feeding on herring, swimming around us.

We talk with Catherine Ridley, VP of One Hundred Miles, about wildlife protection efforts in coastal Georgia, focusing on the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale and Loggerhead Sea Turtles who breed here and are at risk due to fatal ship strikes, fishing gear entanglements, dredging, and noise and light pollution, as well as discussing ancient Horseshoe Crabs, who are especially under threat lately by pharmaceutical industries who are capturing (kidnapping) hundreds of thousands of them and draining them of their blue blood, despite a synthetic substance that serves the same medical purpose without the massive animal exploitation.  In this 27-minute interview with In Tune to Nature host Carrie Freeman, Catherine Ridley discusses policy solutions such as zones for slower ship speeds, beach lighting ordinances, dredging bans during breeding season, and synthetic alternatives to horseshoe crab blood, all of which would save animal lives if we made them and our ecosystem health a priority. Catherine urges civic engagement and for us to get passionate and speak up. See the Horseshoe Crab Recovery Coalition that has action items to ban the mass exploitation https://hscrabrecovery.org/ See action items for all coastal species at One Hundred Miles' page on wildlife https://onehundredmiles.org/wildlife/  and you can join their email action item list here https://onehundredmiles.org/join-mailing-list/  In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50plus-year old independent, progressive, noncommercial Atlanta radio station at www.wrfg.org  Take care of yourself and others, including other species, like the individuals who live along our coasts. Photo credit at horseshoe crab pharmaceutical facility: Ariane Mueller  

Conservation Journalist Ben Goldfarb explains stories and lessons from his fantastic book "Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet" It examines how our vast system of roads and all our car and truck traffic is dissecting landscapes and making life dangerous and often lethal for other animal species (to bypass the "moving fence" of traffic) – and what we can do about it to support biodiversity and to share our planet more equitably with other animal individuals striving to thrive and survive amongst the noisy and dangerous new roadway 'ecosystems.' I found "Crossings" so eye-opening and so comprehensive –it's about every aspect of road and vehicle impacts you could ever think of and for all kinds of animals from bears to butterflies to frogs and fish--  and so many interesting and well written stories. It's heartbreaking to hear about this constant mass killing of animals and infringement upon their freedoms, migration, and lives, but also heartwarming due to all the people (from engineers and biologists to animal activists) trying to help other animals and find solutions like building wildlife crossings and rewilding older roads in public forests. In this 34-minute interview host Carrie Freeman asks Ben Goldfarb why our road systems have such an extremely negative effect on wildlife and ecosystems, how various animal species have different ways of dealing with roads (some more cautious and some more cavalier), how wildlife overpasses over highways are helping larger mammals like mountain lions out west connect to other habitats/mates, and how underpasses are helping some smaller animals like turtles in Florida get to other habitats without getting squashed by the thousands. We also discuss the surprising effects of road noise on animals' ability to thrive and communicate, and we conclude with a variety of solutions, including more roadless areas in national forests and more carpooling in buses in national parks, slowing down speed limits, and building safe wildlife road passages in key migration sites (a bipartisan win/win issue as it pays for itself). Conservation journalist Ben Goldfarb has other great books and articles. See his work at his website  www.bengoldfarb.com/  In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50plus-year old independent, progressive, noncommercial Atlanta radio station at www.wrfg.org  Take care of yourself and others, including other species...by driving less often and slower and advocating for roadless spaces and wildlife crossings.

A decade after the release of the 2014 award-winning documentary Cowspiracy, filmmakers Kip Anderson and Keegan Kuhn come together with Atlanta animal activists and scholars in a webinar on May 21st 2024 to discuss the impact of the film and the status/progress/strategies of the vegan movement today. Facilitated by host Dr. Natalie Khazaal, a critical animal studies scholar and Associate Professor at Georgia Tech (the webinar was funded by a grant from her department, the School of Modern Languages), this 57-minute webinar allows the filmmakers to answer questions from GA Tech students and Atlanta animal activists (including me, In Tune to Nature host Carrie Freeman) where we discuss: which few environmental orgs actually have the integrity to campaign to reduce or replace animal ag, knowing its immense environmental destructiveness (shout out to the Center for Biological Diversity and the Western Watershed Project); the pros and cons of lab-grown/cultivated meats (esp. good for pet food); the need to campaign against animal ag subsidies and regenerative ag/holistic grazing myths and for divestment from animal ag; and how best to persuasively connect with people, such as using ethical/animal rights messages, and bypassing cognitive dissonance in favor of carnism/meat-eating. We also mention other impactful animal/food documentaries, as Kip and Keegan run AUM (Animals United Movement) Film and Media company https://www.aumfilms.org/ , a nonprofit that produces provocative full-length films inspiring healthy coexistence, such as Seaspiracy, What the Health, and the End of Medicine. Christpiracy is the latest film, which addresses spiritual/ethical and religious tenets in support of abstaining from farming/eating other animals.  For studies I have published in the Environmental Communication journal analyzing environmental organizations' campaigns related to animal ag and commercial fishing and the need for greater critiques, see Take Extinction Off Your Plate (2022) and Meat's Place on the Campaign Menu (2010). Both found on my open-access site https://works.bepress.com/carrie_freeman/  In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50plus-year old independent, progressive Atlanta radio station at www.wrfg.org  Note: I edited the original webinar to fit the radio format to be under an hour.  Take care of yourself and others, including other species...by supporting animal activism and veganic/produce farming.

Food justice activist and veganic farmer Eugene Cooke shares an aspirational vision for why he practices agro-ecology in urban ag at Grow Where You Are farms around Atlanta and how (and why) this can be scaled up for widespread regenerative agricultural practices that the U.S. needs to stay viable and sustainable to feed our human population and nurture our soil naturally not chemically. In this 25-minute podcast (from Sept 2022), Eugene explains his unconventional roots from artist to farmer and what it's like to share his biodiverse, Atlanta-based veganic crop farms with wandering wildlife (not domesticating or farming any animals) and how they use composted food and yard scraps to generate compost fertilizers without all the slaughterhouse or antibiotic and chemical remnants in animal-based fertilizers. He and his farming partner Nicole then share their organic bounty with local folks (like at the Freedom Farmer's Market at the Carter Center each Saturday morning). Host Carrie Freeman is one of those nourished market customers enjoying their produce weekly (then composting the food scraps to make fertilizer to grow more food, via her CompostNow service). Eugene Cooke encourages us consumers to be part of this sustainable food transition by starting to eat more fresh foods/produce from regenerative agriculture producers, more so than eating processed and sugary commercial foods from big commodity monocrops. Check out his videos at https://www.growwhereyouare.farm/ or https://www.patreon.com/growwhereyouare  In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50plus-year old independent progressive Atlanta radio station at www.wrfg.org  Take care of yourself and others, including other species...by supporting veganic farmers

To honor primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall's 90th birthday (April 3 2024) and her continuing conservation work, I am playing part of a recent Mongabay News interview with her, hosted by Rhett A. Butler, followed by a PBS News Hour interview from 2016 with the late biologist E.O. Wilson where he discussed his final book "Half Earth" which he wrote in his late eighties. He continued working until he passed at age 92 in 2021 and his legacy lives on with his many nature books and his Half Earth Project nonprofit that seeks to protect half of our planet's most biodiverse land and sea spaces to ensure wildlife has access and can thrive there without humans exploiting them or taking over the space -- this protection Wilson explains is necessary to end the mass extinction crisis (other animals cannot thrive living in fragmented isolated parks here and there). I think you'll enjoy hearing from these legends with their hopeful messages and solutions on this 31-minute podcast. You can find out more about the pioneering and ongoing work of these inspirational lifelong biologists at their nonprofits: The Jane Goodall Institute and the Half-Earth Project. You can also support non-commercial news like Mongabay and the PBS News Hour whose journalistic work was featured on this program...and Radio Free Georgia, my indie station! "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly radio show airing Wednesdays at 6:30pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station). Hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. The show's website and action items can be found at https://www.facebook.com/InTunetoNature  Please support indie media like Radio Free Georgia at https://wrfg.org/   Take care of yourself and others, including other emotional animal species. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on In Tune to Nature do not necessarily reflect those of WRFG its board, staff, or volunteers....most of us are volunteers. Photo Credit: Mongabay News  

Renowned animal ethologist Dr. Marc Bekoff shares insights from the newly revised edition of his classic book: “The Emotional Lives of Animals: A leading scientist explores animal joy, sorrow, and empathy, -- and why they matter” with a foreword by famed primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall. In April 2024, with the release of the book near Dr. Goodall's 90th birthday, Dr. Bekoff spent 38 minutes with host Carrie Freeman discussing: what it's like working with Dr. Goodall, what has changed in the exploding field of cognitive ethology (the study of animal minds) in the last 20 years, how fairness and justice are a common trait in social animals to maintain cooperation (like with coyotes), why less "charismatic" animals like fish and mice will surprise us with their personalities (as all animals are individuals not just inter-changeable members of their species), how we need to work for animal "wellbeing" not just animal "welfare" for domesticated and wild animals, and ethical choices -- what we all can do to play our part in reducing animal suffering and advocating for animals (whom we should no longer under-estimate or ignore). We end on a hopeful note, thanks to a 4th grader who inspired Marc.  The Emotional Lives of Animals book chapters cover: the indisputable case for animal emotions; animal minds and hearts;  what animals feel;  wild justice, empathy, and fair play; and a final chapter on why animal wellbeing matters - with lots of recommendations across various fields of animal types and uses (zoos, farms, research labs, etc.). The author, Marc Bekoff, PhD has been an animal advocate and researcher for close to 50 years, and he's a prolific author of more than 30 books on nonhuman animals. A professor emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Dr. Bekoff has won many awards for his research on animal behavior, compassionate conservation, animal protection, and animal emotions. He publishes regularly for Psychology Today. His website is https://marcbekoff.com/  I'm happy to report that The Emotional Lives of Animals book is printed on 100% recycled paper bc the publisher -- New World Library--  is part of the Green Press Initiative. I wish all book publishers made recycled paper a priority.   "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly radio show airing Wednesdays at 6:30pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station). Hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. The show's website and action items can be found at https://www.facebook.com/InTunetoNature  Please support indie media like Radio Free Georgia at https://wrfg.org/   Take care of yourself and others, including other emotional animal species. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on In Tune to Nature do not necessarily reflect those of WRFG its board, staff, or volunteers....most of us are volunteers.  

We discuss the latest in the 2024 fight against environmental racism and stream water degradation as part of the "Save The Atlanta Forest" movement also knowns as the "Stop Cop City" movement, in Southeast Atlanta, comprised of many allied groups of citizens who over the last several years are working to stop/discontinue the building of a multi-million dollar mega law enforcement training center in a forested watershed area, where it is unwanted by the adjacent human community of many Black residents, and by the wildlife who (used to) live there too. To tell us about the ongoing legal efforts is Dr. Jacqueline Echols, Board President of the South River Watershed Alliance. @southriverGA #southriverGA  In this 28-minute Feb. 2024 interview, host Carrie Freeman asks Dr. Echols to explain the civil rights act administrative complaint her organization filed, alleging the origins of the copy city installation constitute intentional harm and qualify as environmental racism. And she discusses another pending legal case alleging violations of the clean water act from increased sediment deposits harming the already polluted streams and river that may not be able to sustain life. Dr. Echols notes that stalling/delay by the courts and government officials seems to be a tactic used throughout this project to get the facility built under the radar before the city is officially told they legally cannot. Construction of the facility and destruction of many trees has already taken place.  The "Save the forest" image of the sad rabbit painting on the bridge on the South River Trail taken by host Carrie Freeman. See cement barricade there.  Note: you never see any "tear down the Atlanta forest" or "build cop city" artwork around the city. There was a lot of helicopter noise that was in the area too at that cop city building site, and noise like that scares away a lot of the wild/free animal residents. Carrie didn't get audio of the copters but she does play an audio clip several times of the frog serenade along the South River trail wetland. "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly radio show airing Wednesdays at 6:30pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station). Hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. The show's website and action items can be found at https://www.facebook.com/InTunetoNature  Please support indie media like Radio Free Georgia at https://wrfg.org/   Take care of yourself and others, including other species, like the wetland frogs you hear in this podcast. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on In Tune to Nature do not necessarily reflect those of WRFG its board, staff, or volunteers....most of us are volunteers.

In this double-show we explore problems and solutions for transforming America's flawed model of wildlife management that is oddly human-centric (hunter-centric), undemocratic, and often cruel, by speaking with wildlife advocate and author Anja Heister, PhD, about her recent book “Beyond the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation: From Lethal to Compassionate Conservation,” published by the academic press Palgrave Macmillan as part of their Animal Ethics Series. Founder of Footloose Montana, an anti-trapping organization, and decades long advocate for animals, Dr. Heister wrote a book that provides a nuanced analysis of the wildlife management system and its faults in the U.S. and a vision for what could be a compassionate conservation alternative that is nonviolent, and more democratic and representative of the interests of all Americans (not primarily hunters and trappers), including the interests of all of America's wild animals, not just endangered species or the so-called “game species.” We can't keep leaving wildlife to be at the mercy of management by a small group of Americans, namely hunters and trappers, sporting and ranching industries, and rural residents, and instead let all of us put wildlife first in wildlife policies. In this 54-minute episode, hosted by Carrie Freeman, she and Dr. Heister discuss: misconceptions many Americans have about the way wildlife is managed, challenging historic myths of hunting and/as conservation, how our wildlife system is funded by hunting licenses and gun sales providing misguided incentives, and Governors having more control than citizens in policymaking, examples of cruel policies towards wolves in Montana,  how many laws protect hunters and trappers more than animals, enabling cruelty, how empathy and emotion should play a larger role with rationality in wildlife management, and a vision to transform our U.S. wildlife management agencies based on compassionate conservation principles that value individual animal lives and promote all Americans' input in protecting and supporting our wild animal neighbors. Consider supporting nonprofit conservation groups who advocate for change, like Wildlife For All. https://wildlifeforall.us/  "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly radio show airing Wednesdays at 6:30pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station). Hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. The show's website and action items can be found at https://www.facebook.com/InTunetoNature  Please support indie media like Radio Free Georgia at https://wrfg.org/   Take care of yourself and others, including other species, like the free-living animals who share our land and waters. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on In Tune to Nature do not necessarily reflect those of WRFG its board, staff, or volunteers....most of us are volunteers.

Today it's one of my favorite topics -- the benefits of humans starting to embrace our animality and kinship with other animals, instead of falsely repressing our animality and continuing to think of ourselves as exceptional and above all animal life. We'll talk about how we human animals can productively change our self narrative to be more honest with author and environmental philosopher Melanie Challenger who wrote the fascinating book “How to be animal: A New History of What it Means to be Human.” As she phrases is, “It's an invitation to refresh in our minds the loveliness of being animal.” You can find out more at her website https://www.melaniechallenger.com/  In this half hour "In Tune to Nature" radio podcast, host Carrie Freeman talks with award-winning author Melanie Challenger about: what drew her to the conclusion that the fundamental issue of humanity is that we don't want to admit we are an animal, but should; the false mind/body dualism and the struggle for us humans to accept our vulnerable bodily selves (we are not just our brains); what we gain and share with other animals in these bodies that is a lovely part of being human; how we can recognize "the world is alive with intelligence" and "if we matter, so does everything else" (p.217); and ways that we can collectively help create a more truthful and productive narrative on humanity that embeds us within the broader, rich animal community. and she ends by telling us how her "How to be Animal" book sets up her latest book on the topic of Animal Dignity and the role of respect. "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly radio show airing Wednesdays at 6:30pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station). Hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. The show's website and action items can be found at https://www.facebook.com/InTunetoNature  Please support indie media like Radio Free Georgia at https://wrfg.org/   Take care of yourself and others, including human and nonhuman animals.

We focus on the creative process of several artists in the road ecology movement who have promoted safe passageways for wildlife to cross over and under human highways, via song, children's literature, and documentary film. Our guests are writer Frances Figart of Asheville, NC and filmmaker Ted Grudowski of Seattle, WA, interviewed in this 30-minute podcast by host Carrie Freeman. Our discussion explores creative ways these artists have inspired humans to more safely and fairly share land with free-living nonhuman animals, specifically to promote the design and build of wildlife road crossings to enable safe passage for animals across human highways --  like Highway I-40, North of Asheville NC near the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, where there are lots of bears, elk, deer, and other animals needing to migrate to feed and mate, and that highway is a dangerous barrier to their livelihood, causing vehicle collisions. You can find out more about that ongoing safe passage project and its coalition of conservation supporters at the Smokies Safe Passage website: https://smokiessafepassage.org/ In this podcast, Frances Figart tells us about her children's book (for ages 7 - 13) "A Search for Safe Passage" (illustrated by Emma Dufort) about a council of 19 animal species who work together to find an underpass that allows them to safely get to the other side of a scary and loud human road in their mountain forest. That also inspired her song "Safe Passage: Animals Need a Hand." You can see and share a cool music video of this song by Asheville band The Fates in a celtic/bluegrass style on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLbyQB5mqtU (we play a portion of this song in the podcast). Filmmaker and photographer Ted Grudowski also tells us about "Cascade Crossroads" the award-winning half-hour documentary he co-produced that chronicles the amazing story of seemingly opposite interests out West joining forces to restore a critical wildlife corridor while improving Washington State's vital transportation corridor over the Cascade Mountains -- a documentary that is actually encouraging in these polarizing times. You can watch it to inspire similar problem-solving in your own town, at Ted's website https://www.tedgrudowski.com/cascade-crossroads-documentary-film  The nonprofit Conservation Northwest also has a lot of resources on reconnecting habitats.  "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly radio show airing Wednesdays at 6:30pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station). Hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. The show's website and action items can be found at https://www.facebook.com/InTunetoNature  Please support indie media like Radio Free Georgia at https://wrfg.org/   Take care of yourself and others, including other species -- like wildlife who need to get where they are going safely (with road underpasses and overpasses and more roadless areas to live).  

We enjoy the poetry and photography in a new book Wild Atlanta: Greenspaces and Nature Preserves of “The City in the Forest” with the book author and poet Stephen Wing and the book's photographer Luz Wright. Their 98-page full color poetic photo book is an artistic tribute to several dozen of Atlanta's gorgeous public forests and parks for humans and wildlife to share.  In this 26-minute interview (airing in December 2023), I have Stephen read a few of his poems that ingeniously weave in the climate crisis, wild animals like hawks, and protecting natural areas like Intrenchment Creek Park from development (from becoming 'Cop City' and/or a movie studio lot). And Luz explains a collection of photos she took of trees, crickets, streams, leaves, and butterflies at Heritage Trail Park. You can see it's a great creative connection between Luz and Stephen to bring each wild space alive through an intriguing and unique visual and written conversation. The book's website is https://wildatlanta.net/ and it lists the local independent bookstores where you can obtain a copy and where the authors sometimes come do a reading. "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly radio show airing Wednesdays at 6:30pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station). Hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. The show's website and action items can be found at https://www.facebook.com/InTunetoNature  Please support indie media like Radio Free Georgia at https://wrfg.org/   Take care of yourself and others, including other species and wild spaces.

To have a more meaningful holiday season and avoid buying a bunch of stuff, this is a replay of my 28-minute annual green gift giving show -- this time focusing not on eco-friendly products but more on eco-friendly experiences in order to avoid cluttering up our lives with more stuff that lands in our homes permanently. So the emphasis is on gift-giving ideas for vegan food/meals or experiences (travel, parks, spas, etc.) or lending a helping hand (dog-sitting, babysitting/tutoring, lawncare, home organization), and savings/investing. It is an Atlanta focused show. It also highlights the So Kind Registry that allows you to let your friends and family know what is meaningful and fun for you (registering for that as gifts) instead of more "stuff" to buy. https://www.sokindregistry.org/  "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly radio show airing Wednesdays at 6:30pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station). Hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. The show's website and action items can be found at https://www.facebook.com/InTunetoNature  Please support indie media like Radio Free Georgia at https://wrfg.org/   Take care of yourself and others, including other species.  

Did you know one third of North America's birds have vanished over the last 50 years -- on our watch? That's 3 Billion fewer birds in our ecosystems, skies, trees, farms, and backyards! In their book "A Wing and a Prayer: The Race to Save our Vanishing Birds," journalists and bird lovers Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal went on an adventure to sound the alarm and help us discover why birds aren't thriving anymore (after tens of millions of years on this planet) and to profile the many unique and innovate ways that scientists and outdoor enthusiasts are helping to preserve species and habitats. In this 28-minute podcast, where host Carrie Freeman interviews Anders Gyllenhaal, we also discuss the need for the general public to invest in wildlife conservation (at least $1 billion a year is needed) to prevent bird losses, not just rely on taxing hunters and guns, nor wait and try to save those species who are on the brink of extinction (a much more costly and less effective solution than prevention now). Reinvigorating the U.S. Fish & Wildlife agency and passing the bipartisan 'Restore America's Wildlife Act' are part of what is needed. You can find out more about the book and what birds are teaching us at their website https://flyinglessons.us/ There you will also find suggestions on how you can be part of the solution to save birds and their habitats, which we discuss at the end of the podcast. "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly radio show airing Wednesdays at 6:30pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station). Hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. The show's website and action items can be found at https://www.facebook.com/InTunetoNature  Please support indie media like Radio Free Georgia at https://wrfg.org/  In fact, Anders supplied a signed hardcopy of the book as a fundraising incentive, and I can send it to anyone who donates $50 or more at wrfg.org (just message me at the facebook page to let me know). Take care of yourself and others, including other species, like our vanishing birds.

Discussing his book "Nature, Design, and Health: Explorations of a Landscape Architect," David Kamp describes his nature-inspired design philosophy, and we specifically concentrate on garden project elements designed to enhance the wellbeing of older adults and people with special needs. We also discuss how wildlife can be encouraged and supported in our yards and landscapes. You can see his lovely designs at the book website https://www.naturedesignhealth.com/.  This 24-minute podcast is hosted by Carrie Freeman, who recorded it for "In Tune to Nature," a weekly radio show airing Wednesdays at 6:30pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station). Hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. The show's website and action items can be found at https://www.facebook.com/InTunetoNature  Please support indie media like Radio Free Georgia at https://wrfg.org/  Take care of yourself and others, including other species, like those who wander through and feed in our backyards.

This double-length show explains tips from the book "Advocating for the Environment: How to Gather Your Power and Take Action" by environmental lobbyist, public servant, teacher, and author Sue Inches from Maine. https://sueinches.com/  After meeting at the 2023 Conference on Communication & Environment and hearing about her book and vast experience, I invited Sue to be interviewed on In Tune to Nature for a longer format show (52 minutes). This gave us more time to discuss advice from the book, such as: the power of being visionary in environmental action (and the 80-10-10 rule), the importance of reframing our earth stories and values to focus on interconnection, bridging partisan politics in the U.S., effectively lobbying of decision-makers, reasons to be hopeful for environmental change, and key steps you can take to get active. In Tune to Nature is a long-time weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50-year old independent, non-commercial, progressive Atlanta radio station at https://wrfg.org/   Remember to take care of yourself and others, including other species.

We discuss the need for marine eco policies and "sustainable fishing" policies to move toward a non-industrial discourse that treats fish as subjects and as ecological beings rather than primarily objectifying them as human food/stock/seafood – basically sustainable fisheries rhetoric should stop reducing fish and other aquatic animal species to mere economic resources to be 'sustainably managed'. Dr. Jennifer Jacquet, Professor of Environmental Science and Policy at Univ of Miami, explains her rationales for why a change in our discussion of fish (and relationship with fish) is warranted and ecologically beneficial, in this 25-minute podcast with host Carrie Freeman.  This is based on an provocative perspective piece that Dr. Jennifer Jacquet recently co-authored with Dr. Daniel Pauly, published in the journal PLOS Biology, titled "Reimagining Sustainable Fisheries" that challenges the bias toward industrial fishing and economic commodities in our fisheries and marine environmental policies. She also unpacks the excuse that we need managed industrial fishing with quotas to "feed people" or for "food security" when so much caught fish just goes to feed farmed animals (including farmed fish) and to feed wealthier consumer market demands when these consumers often have more sustainable food options (like plant-based). She explains why sustainable fisheries policies need to focus on subsistence fishing (not industrial) and especially protecting marine habitats to help aquatic animals begin to thrive free of harassment/harm. The move to reimagine whales as beings not commodities can be a model for cultural and political change toward other marine animals. See https://ali.fish/blog/reimagining-sustainable-fisheries  The photo of free/wild fish in the Maldives is by Sebastian Pena Lambarri on Unsplash.  In Tune to Nature is a long-time weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50-year old independent, non-commercial, progressive Atlanta radio station at https://wrfg.org/   Remember to take care of yourself and others, including other species, like those who live underwater.

The Buffalo Field Campaign has worked for decades restoring rights to the wild Bison of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming to live and freely migrate in and outside of Yellowstone National Park in their rightful territory. Carrie Freeman's radio guests Mike Mease and Dallas Gudgell are from the nonprofit Buffalo Field Campaign and we discuss their achievements since the 1990s. In this 25-minute podcast recorded late July 2023, they explain why the bison are at risk of being killed by hunters and ranchers when they leave Yellowstone National Park and how Montana's wildlife policies have been hostile to this threatened and recovering species (treating the species as 'livestock' instead of wildlife). Buffalo Field Campaign volunteers work annually to document and protect the bison in the field (they invite you to join them). Dallas explains the bison's key role in local First Nations' cultural identity and how a coalition of dozens of tribes are meeting in November 2023 to discuss a path to more unified Tribal stewardship over the Yellowstone bison as part of reparations and a path for true protection and recovery of the wild bison herds.   The Buffalo Field Campaign is the only group working both in the field and in the policy arenas to stop the harassment and slaughter of America's last wild buffalo. Formalized as a nonprofit in 1997, they also protect the natural habitat of wild free-roaming bison and other native wildlife, and stand with First Nations to honor the sacredness of wild buffalo. The primary goal of the Buffalo Field Campaign is to create permanent year-round protection for bison and the ecosystem they depend on—including respect for the migratory needs of this long-exploited and clearly endangered species. Their website full of info, photos, and action items is BuffaloFieldCampaign.org. Photo taken by host Carrie Freeman of the bison herd in Yellowstone (during her visit in 2017). In Tune to Nature is a long-time weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50-year old independent, non-commercial, progressive Atlanta radio station at https://wrfg.org/   Remember to take care of yourself and others, including other species, like the bison, with whom we share the planet.  

We discuss findings from a 2023 report “Animal Agriculture is the Missing Piece in Climate Change Media Coverage”. Given the policy agenda-setting role of the news media, this report details what coverage improvements are warranted to facilitate needed farming and dietary changes in the U.S. to help mitigate the climate crisis, given the large role that animal ag plays in greenhouse gas emissions (especially via methane and deforestation). In this 25-minute podcast, In Tune to Nature host Carrie Freeman interviews two of the report's co-authors, Coni Arevalo (Research Associate at Faunalytics) and Jenny Splitter (Managing Editor at Sentient Media). The report and its recommendations can be found, with an easy-to-read executive summary and infographics, at https://faunalytics.org/animal-ag-in-climate-media/ Faunalytics is a nonprofit research organization that conducts studies and shares knowledge to help advocates support animals effectively. Their website is https://faunalytics.org/.  And Sentient Media is a nonprofit journalism organization and news outlet dedicated to changing the conversation around animal agriculture. Their website is https://sentientmedia.org/   Photo of cow used in the dairy industry, by Jo-Anne McArthur of We Animals Media. The breeding, raising, and feeding of cows is the main contributor in ag to the climate crisis. In Tune to Nature is a long-time weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50-year old independent, non-commercial, progressive Atlanta radio station at https://wrfg.org/   Remember to take care of yourself and others, including other species, like all the free/wild animals we share the planet with.

Ecoflix.com is the first not-for-profit streaming channel of entertainment and educational shows and podcasts dedicated to saving animals and the planet. We talk with founder and CEO David Casselman about why he founded Ecoflix, how the non-commercial global programming is different from other animal channels (more advocacy oriented and family friendly, non-graphic), some of the most popular shows (saving bears, elephants, wolves, leopards, whales, rainforests, and more) including kids shows, as well as what wildlife and animal protection NGOs Ecoflix works with and supports with 100% of the subscriber fees. Share with educators that all fees are waived for teachers so that educational content is free in classrooms. In this 25-minute "In Tune to Nature" podcast hosted by Carrie Freeman, David also explains the various wildlife and climate protection projects Ecoflix supports and documents for original programming (like drones that can prevent whale strikes with ships). Ecoflix content is varied and also has music videos, podcasts, and poetry. David recommends this fascinating poem about the value of whale poo toward phytoplankton and all life.  https://watch.ecoflix.com/videos/hot-poets-matt-harvey-praise-the-whale  In Tune to Nature is a long-time weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50-year old independent, non-commercial, progressive Atlanta radio station at https://wrfg.org/   Remember to take care of yourself and others, including other species, like all the free/wild animals we share the planet with.  

Due to the threat of titanium mining, the biologically rich and unique Okefenokee Swamp habitat at the GA/FL border has unfortunately been named one of America's Most Endangered Rivers of 2023 (by the organization America Rivers). But there's a wide alliance of bipartisan wilderness and water protectors at https://protectokefenokee.org/ defending this National Wildlife Refuge, including The Georgia River Network. Their Executive Director, ecologist Rena Ann Peck talks to host Carrie Freeman in this 25-minute podcast about why and how so many groups are protecting this delicate and one-of-a-kind ecosystem from damaging mining efforts on the trail ridge (bordering the swamp ecosystem). It's a sacred space to the Muskogee Creek Nation and home to hundreds of plants and unique animals, such as alligators, salamanders, birds, and fish, some endangered. Rena also explains what is being done in the GA Legislature to try to establish permanent protection against future mining (HB 71 Okefenokee Protection Act) and actions to urge the Georgia EPD (Env Protection Division) and Governor Kemp not to issue a mining permit to Twin Pine Minerals company. With overwhelming bipartisan support in favor of park protection, we hope that government listens and acts. Interested citizens can text 52886 with the word SWAMP and it takes you to action items. You can also see the action items and many gorgeous videos at this GA River Network site https://garivers.org/protectokefenokee/  In Tune to Nature is a long-time weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50-year old independent, non-commercial, progressive Atlanta radio station at https://wrfg.org/   Remember to take care of yourself and others, including other species, like the thousands who live in rivers and wetlands. 

To help us understand how coyote families live among us in urban/suburban areas as productive members of ecosystems, Berry College Professor of Biology, Dr. Chris Mowry (and co-founder of the Atlanta Coyote Project) tells us about the natural history of wild canine species in the North America, specifically the Southeast region, where settler colonists drove out the native Red Wolf, and over the centuries the coyote has migrated to take the place of their wolf cousins. Also in this 26-minute In Tune to Nature radio show, recorded in May 2023, host Carrie Freeman expresses concern over the GA Dept of Natural Resources' unfair designation of the coyote as an "invasive species," allowing open-season unlimited killing of coyotes by humans with hunting/trapping licenses. Dr. Mowry explains his and other scientific research findings that coyotes, like most predator species, end up productively enriching the biodiversity of our local ecosystems and therefore do not deserve the title of "invasive" (especially given the natural presence of wild canines in the Southeast historically). We also discuss the family lives of coyotes and their daily routines, eating some plant foods and some small rodents. We end by discussing how to coexist with coyotes in our neighborhoods so that we don't attract them to our yards with petfood or seeds or fruits, and we avoid poisoning their food sources with rat poison, which could cause them to become diseased. Dr. Mowry explains why hiring a trapper to get rid of some local coyote isn't ultimately going to keep coyotes out of your communities, as other coyotes will eventually fill that open territory, so the smartest and most humane action is to coexist peacefully with this often elusive and reclusive species. Find info about how to coexist and other fun facts about local coyotes (plus photos and videos) on the Atlanta Coyote Project website. https://www.atlantacoyoteproject.org/  In Tune to Nature is a long-time weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50-year old independent, non-commercial, progressive Atlanta radio station at https://wrfg.org/   Take care of yourself and others, including other species, like our urban wildlife. PHOTO CREDIT: Biologist Dr. Larry Wilson (photo of a male coyote spotted in Atlanta's Piedmont Park in 2016. Since coyote's mate for life, he's also someone's partner and dad)

From taking selfies with wild animal individuals, to promoting them as pets, to faking animal rescues for clicks, content harmful to animals abounds on social media platforms like YouTube, Tik Tok, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. To help us identify what is inappropriate, harmful, or cruel content and what to do about it, in this 28-minute radio show, host Carrie Freeman interviews Nicola O'Brien, leader of the Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition. Nicola explains why we should NOT engage with a harmful post or click/comment on it and why we should instead flag and report it to the platform, and then report it also via the Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition reporting form here https://www.smaccoalition.com/report-a-concern as they act on and collect data on each social media platform and work to get policies that will recognize psychological animal harm and bad behavior promoting wildlife-human interactions as inappropriate content that should not be seen as meeting the platform's policies and thus gets taken down.  Act on these petitions https://www.smaccoalition.com/petitions  because a lot of work is yet to be done to get these platforms to have truly animal-friendly policies that go beyond just removing obvious physical abuse torture videos (and helps ensure that people who use animals can't make money on social media content). We all need to get involved in pressuring our favorite social media platforms to have much stricter policies regarding nonhuman animal content so we don't promote harmful human practices and also cause animal suffering for those animals in the posts. Here's another resource to help you identify cruel content: https://www.smaccoalition.com/ask-yourself  In Tune to Nature is a long-time weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50-year old independent, non-commercial, progressive Atlanta radio station at https://wrfg.org/   See other guidelines for holding media accountable (journalism, filmmakers, advertisers and PR folks) at https://animalsandmedia.org/  Take care of yourself and others, including other species (whether online or in your neighborhood)

On behalf of Atlanta's biggest in-town forest, its resident wildlife, and nearby human neighbors, we discuss the 'Save The Atlanta Forest' movement also known as the 'Stop Cop City' movement, in Southeast Atlanta, comprised of many allied groups of citizens, especially Black residents, who over the last several years are working to stop the installation and building of a multi-million dollar, noisy and explosive, mega law enforcement training center in a greenspace and forested area (a former prison farm), where it is vehemently unwanted by the adjacent community and was already promised by a former mayor to be a preserved park. To tell us about that ongoing effort from an ecological and an environmental justice/racial justice perspective, host Carrie Freeman speaks with Dr. Jacqueline Echols, Board President of the South River Watershed Alliance and 2017 winner of GreenLaw's Environmental Hero award, who has worked in clean water and tree protection for a quarter century. This website provides action items and more info on the river and forest protection  https://www.southriverforest.org/   FYI: The email for the CEO of Dekalb County is CEOMichaelThurmond@dekalbcountyga.gov  and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens can be reached at  adickens@atlantaga.gov   In this 26-minute podcast, originally aired in April 2023, Dr. Echols explains how this police training facility could be decentralized and placed in other communities -- ones who want it or who have not been disproportionately impacted by police violence and legal system discrimination for decades, as has this majority Black Southwest Atlanta community. Let's respect these residents' wishes and give them the park, the peace, and the clean water they want and deserve and that the local wildlife need.  In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50-year old independent, non-commercial, progressive Atlanta radio station at https://wrfg.org/   PHOTO: Dr. Jackie Echols kayaking on the South River Take care of yourself and others, including other species.

In this double-show, Leah Garces, President of Mercy for Animals, discusses initiatives to protect taxpayers, farm workers, chickens, and pigs in an unprecedented and long-overdue marker to the 2023 Farm Bill -- the Industrial Agriculture Accountability Act -- to be considered in the U.S. Congress in Fall 2023. After learning about these issues, U.S. citizens can contact their Congresspeople to express opinions on this critical bill, as Senators and Representatives in the House would need to sign on to it this spring and summer. This link helps you easily make contact: https://mercyforanimals.org/iaa/   The Industrial Agriculture Accountability Act was put forward by Senator Cory Booker, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, who worked with Mercy for Animals and other farming groups to propose this groundbreaking legislation to start to hold accountable a corporate-dominated animal agribusiness industry, especially to get companies to better prepare for (and pay for) inevitable natural disasters and pandemics. So I devoted a double-long show to this topic, especially since the myriad problems with industrial animal agribusiness rarely get addressed in Congress (due to a powerful agribusiness lobby), despite how much the public disapproves of factory farming and how much taxpayer money goes to subsidize it (millions of taxpayer dollars annually are bailing out profitable factory farming corporations, especially during disasters, but also routinely in subsidizing their feed crops rather than subsidizing fruits and vegetables humans need to be eating more of). This radio show and this bill shine a light on many problems with factory farming that most of us don't know. In this this 49-minute show recorded in March 2023, In Tune to Nature host Carrie Freeman interviews Leah Garces, long-time farmed animal advocate and current President of the nonprofit group Mercy for Animals at https://mercyforanimals.org/ With her on-the-farm experience, she helps us understand all the various exciting initiatives of the Industrial Agriculture Accountability Act and what it proposes to do to help humans (agricultural workers, incarcerated workers, and also taxpayers and some smaller ‘growers' in debt to larger animal ag corporations) as well as helping other animal species in terms of reducing some of their immense suffering. From slowing down the kill-line speeds, to including chickens and turkeys in the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, to prohibiting the killing of pigs too lame to walk, to reducing the time that hungry and thirsty animals are kept in transit to slaughterhouses, to offering severance pay and healthcare to vulnerable farmworkers in disasters, to prohibiting the continued exploitation of incarcerated workers made to work in factory farming disasters – this Industrial Agriculture Accountability Act is long overdue and needs everyone's attention, as the Farm Bill only gets amended every 5 years. Also, in Dec 2022, Vox wrote a great overview of Sen. Booker's act titled “Sen. Cory Booker has a plan to stop taxpayer bailouts of Big Meat.” In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50-year old independent, non-commercial, progressive Atlanta radio station at https://wrfg.org/   PHOTO: Leah Garces and rescued chicken Take care of yourself and others, including other species.

Mercy for Animals' Managing Director AJ Albrecht updates us on the state of the Avian Influenza crisis and the tens of millions of factory farmed birds who have been inhumanely killed/suffocated in an attempt to stop the spread (largely at U.S. taxpayer expense); she outlines a joint lawsuit Mercy for Animals filed against the USDA for their inadequate response to this massive outbreak, and she discusses the legal settlement. Additionally, bird flu isn't limited to birds, and it is spreading globally across wild and domesticated animal species, including mammals, but is especially problematic in spreading among the intensive confinement of egg laying hens in battery cages or chickens crammed in warehouses, making industrial animal agriculture a recurring problem for spreading zoonotic diseases. In this 25-minute radio podcast, host Carrie Freeman interviews AJ Albrecht, licensed attorney and Managing Director at the nonprofit Mercy for Animals, as she outlines the problems and the solutions. Find out more about this advocacy organization's plans to create an ecologically sustainable and compassionate food system at www.mercyforanimals.org  In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50-year old independent, non-commercial, progressive Atlanta radio station at www.wrfg.org  Photo: AJ Albrecht shown holding a chicken friend (neither of them has bird flu). Take care of yourself and others, including other species, especially birds like chickens.

Guest Eva Hamer discusses a recent study of American attitudes toward using animals for food that suggests how best to strategically frame campaign messages promoting a path to evolving together toward animal freedom and plant-based food systems. We discuss what those new policies might be that Americans can support through collective action to get past this feeling of futility that we as individual consumers experience -- that we can't stop factory farming through individual food choices and thus need to work collectively. Host of In Tune to Nature, Carrie Freeman, interviews Eva Hamer, Operations Lead at the nonprofit think tank Pax Fauna in this 26 minute podcast. Details of the Pax Fauna study, strategy recommendations, and some video presentation summaries are found on their website:  narrative.PaxFauna.org.    In their name, Pax stands for Peace and Fauna stands for Animal.  Pax Fauna is a nonprofit that exists to design a more effective social movement for animal freedom in the U.S., using original research as well as careful study of social movement literature and the recent history of the animal movement, in order to reverse the cultural norm of eating animals.   In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50-year old independent, non-commercial, progressive Atlanta radio station at www.wrfg.org  Take care of yourself and others, including other species...other fauna.  

The stench and pollution of pig factory farms is devastating Black rural neighborhoods, but, despite intimidation, NC residents are fighting back in court against the world's largest pork corporation, as documented in "The Smell of Money" a full-length documentary film winning awards at festivals. Radio host Carrie Freeman interviews the film's writer and producer, Jamie Berger, a native of North Carolina, in this 25 minute podcast recorded in February of 2023. We know these warehoused pigs are suffering, but you'll also learn what is wrong with pig CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) and their manure cesspools, and how unhealthy it is for the local community's wellbeing, dignity, quality of life, and property values in Eastern NC, such as Sampson and Duplin counties. You can find out where to view or financially support the film and see a trailer and photos of the characters at https://www.smellofmoneydoc.com/  In the podcast, filmmaker Jamie Berger discusses ways we can help by being conscientious consumers, getting politically active, and joining NGO advocacy groups for environmental justice and clean water (like Riverkeeper groups or Food & Water Watch). Carrie adds that Senator Corey Booker, on the Senate Agriculture committee, put forward an unprecedented bill called the Industrial Agriculture Accountability Act that really asks for some needed reforms to factory farming. So that could be a bill that folks may choose to ask their congress people to cosponsor or support, as the Industrial Agriculture Accountability Act, would really need widespread public support to be able to go up against the agribusiness and Big Meat lobby that wants business as usual, despite how environmentally unsustainable, polluting, and cruel it is. In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50-year old independent, non-commercial, progressive Atlanta radio station at www.wrfg.org  Take care of yourself and others, including other species.

We take on some tricky ethical dilemmas in how we should treat animals in nature, especially “non-native” species (more respectfully called 'Introduced species'), and when and how we should interfere in the lives of animals in a 'post wild' world, based on her thoughtful and nuanced book “Wild Souls: Freedom & Flourishing in the Non-Human World, by environmental writer Emma Marris  https://www.emmamarris.com/.  Carrie Freeman, host of "In Tune to Nature," interviews Emma in this 26-minute podcast where we discuss: the idea of abandoning "species purity" and static or colonial notions of who should be in a given ecosystem; how to value sentient beings (animals) in relation to other (plant) living beings, systems, or whole species; and ethical, fair, and compassionate ways to resolve conflicts that arise between animal species (especially "non-native" vs "native" or "endangered/rare" species). While we don't have definitive answers to these ethical dilemmas, we take a perspective that includes the interests of all animal individuals in decision-making (not just what is presumed best for the ecosystem as a whole). This is part of the classic dilemma of how to fairly balance individual rights with societal/group rights. Other resources on this topic include: The nonprofit science group working on welfare called  Wild Animal Initiative.  Or The Centre for Compassionate Conservation at UT-Sydney. Additionally, Catia Faria has a new book “Animal Ethics in the Wild”; and Kyle Johannsen has the new book "Wild Animal Ethics." In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50-year old independent progressive Atlanta radio station at www.wrfg.org  Take care of yourself and others, including all the unique beings we share our planet with.

We should begin to see multiculturalism as including the creativity and morality found in the cultures of fellow animal species (besides just us humans). In this 27 minute interview, host Carrie Freeman talks with Dr. Carol Gigliotti who shares insights and examples from her book “The Creative Lives of Animals” by NYU Press (2022), from whales to dogs to chimps to birds, mice, and ants. There is a lot to discover if we are willing to recognize the creative ways that other animal species choose to live their lives and solve problems (as whole cultures but also as unique individuals). Carol Gigliotti, PhD is an author, artist, animal activist, and scholar whose work focuses on the reality of animals' lives as important contributors to the biodiversity of this planet. She is Professor Emerita of Design & Dynamic Media and Critical & Cultural Studies at the Emily Carr University of Design, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Her website is www.carolgigliotti.com   In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50-year old independent progressive Atlanta radio station at www.wrfg.org  Take care of yourself and others, including all the unique beings we share our planet with.

How are individual fish (as sentient beings) affected by industrial and recreational fishing practices? We find out by talking with the best selling author of “What a Fish Knows: The Inner Lives of our Underwater Cousins.” biologist, Dr. Jonathan Balcombe, who also recently authored a children's book about a boy and a fish "Jake & Ava". In this interview, we discuss crowded fish farms, death by nets and suffocation, pain from barbed hooks, catch (harass) and release, and ways to avoid all of this by respecting fishes and considering their interests (including eating vegan/plant-based fish or avocado and cucumber sushi). This 28-minute radio show was recorded with Jonathan in the Atlanta studio with host Carrie Freeman in 2018. Check out Dr. Balcombe's books at https://jonathan-balcombe.com/  To advocate for fish species, check out the nonprofit Fish Feel https://fishfeel.org/  In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie radio station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman, Sonia Swartz, or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50-year old independent progressive Atlanta radio station at www.wrfg.org  Take care of yourself and others, including other species, like fishes.

What would a clean, renewable energy future look like in Georgia? Neil Sardana, Beyond Coal rep from the Georgia Chapter of the Sierra Club provides a hopeful yet feasible vision. For energy independence and less pollution and less greenhouse gas emissions, we know we need to move away from dependence on fossil fuels like coal and gas, but could we be 100% renewable, and what would the new energy mix be in Georgia? How feasible is that clean energy transition and how can we get the political will in a rather conservative state to make these massive infrastructure changes happen? Neil Sardana explains how in this 25-minute interview hosted by Carrie Freeman. The Public Service Commissioner seats are the key to redirecting the for-profit Georgia Power mega-utility to clean energy, and solar is the affordable available solution in our sunny state (as Georgia Power Company is considering raising consumer rates again for mostly dirty energy). We should demand the clean energy future we need. You can find out more at https://www.sierraclub.org/georgia/BeyondCoal  or follow @GABeyondCoal  Look for ways to send public comments about the Georgia Power energy rate hikes and encourage them to replace coal and gas with home-grown solar. In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie radio station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman, Sonia Swartz, or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50-year old independent progressive Atlanta radio station at www.wrfg.org  Take care of yourself and others, including other species.    

In time for winter wardrobe & gift-giving, we review the many eco problems with the wool industry and what materials fashion-makers and consumers can support instead (like organic cotton and bamboo). The role of raising, killing, and processing farmed animals, like sheep, for fiber/clothing is often overlooked in environmental discourse (as we tend to just focus on the meat industry). So in this 27-minute podcast for In Tune to Nature, host Carrie Freeman talked with Stephanie Feldstein of The Center for Biological Diversity about their recent report (with the Collective Fashion Justice group) called "Shear Destruction: Wool, Fashion & the Biodiversity Crisis," https://www.collectivefashionjustice.org/shear-destruction where Feldstein notes that “From habitat degradation caused by grazing sheep to the chemicals used in scouring, the entire process of rearing sheep and turning shorn wool into usable fiber is riddled with threats to wildlife.” The extensive report has creative and beautiful artwork by Ari Liloan (as seen in the cover illustration I'm using). You can find out more about the Center for Biological Diversity at https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/  In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie radio station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman, Sonia Swartz, or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50-year old independent progressive Atlanta radio station at www.wrfg.org  Take care of yourself and others, including other species, like wild and domesticated sheep, and other animals we share the planet with.  

In support of eco-friendly candidates who are climate champions, Georgia Conservation Voters advocates for all citizens in GA to exercise their right to vote, with their "Democracy for All" initiative. In this 28-minute podcast, host Carrie Freeman interviews Brionte McCorkle, Executive Director or Georgia Conservation Voters about issues with voting in Georgia, how to make a plan to vote in this November 2022 election, and how her organization vets Georgia political candidates to decide on whom to endorse each election cycle. You can see their endorsed candidate list along with who is on your own ballot at https://www.gcvoters.org/endorsements/  This helps you make a plan to vote by November 8th and get informed on who has environmental platforms and eco-friendly voting records. Voters in GA can also see their ballot and check on polling locations in their county by going to the GA Secretary of State's election website https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/ (early voting ends Nov. 4th) In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie radio station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman, Sonia Swartz, or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50-year old independent progressive Atlanta radio station at www.wrfg.org  Take care of yourself and others, including other species (and keep them in mind when you vote).

Lead report author Lucy Haskell explains BirdLife International's State of the World's Birds 2022 report (it comes out every 4 years), finding that nearly half of the world's bird species are in decline, painting the most concerning picture yet for the natural world,  But it also identifies all the many human-caused drivers of species loss and the critical solutions we desperately need to save nature if we can urgently garner the political will and financial commitment from decision-makers to implement these solutions at scale and pace. This depends on which politicians we elect into office in the next decade and if they make environmental protection, including climate change, a priority. We particularly discuss agricultural and fishing solutions and logging and deforestation solutions to protect bird species and their habitats and note how conservation efforts over the decades have helped reduce the number of birds that have gone extinct, so we know what works. We just need to make these solutions a political priority. This comprehensive report can be found at the website https://www.birdlife.org/  It's got such beautiful images and so many charts and maps and infographics to make it easy to stay engaged and recognize core findings and see how everything fits together. I think Kids can engage with the report too as they must be part of the solution. In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman, Sonia Swartz, or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50-year old independent progressive Atlanta radio station at www.wrfg.org  Take care of yourself and others, including other species -- like birds!    

Food justice activist and veganic farmer Eugene Cooke shares an aspirational vision for why he practices agro-ecology in urban ag at Grow Where You Are farms around Atlanta and how this can be scaled up for widespread regenerative agricultural practices that the U.S. needs to stay viable and sustainable to feed our human population and nurture our soil naturally not chemically. In this 25-minute podcast (from Sept 2022), Eugene shares his unconventional roots from artist to farmer and what it's like to share his biodiverse Atlanta veganic crop farms with wildlife (not domesticating or farming any animals) and how they use composted food and yard scraps to generate compost fertilizers without all the slaughterhouse or antibiotic and chemical remnants in animal-based fertilizers. He and his farming partner Nicole then share their organic bounty with local folks (like at the Freedom Farmer's Market at the Carter Center each Saturday morning). Host Carrie Freeman is one of those nourished market customers enjoying their produce weekly (then composting the food scraps to make fertilizer to grow more food, via CompostNow). Eugene Cooke encourages us consumers to be part of this sustainable food transition by starting to eat more fresh foods/produce from regenerative agriculture producers, more so than eating processed commercial foods from big commodity monocrops. Check out his videos at https://www.growwhereyouare.farm/ or https://www.patreon.com/growwhereyouare  In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman, Sonia Swartz, or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50-year old independent progressive Atlanta radio station at www.wrfg.org  Take care of yourself and others, including other species.